I am a general practice attorney concentrating in Real Estate Law, Estate Planning and Administration, Family Law including Divorce and Uncontested Divorce and Criminal Law. Based in Auburn, New York the I service all of Central New York and the Fingerlakes Region including Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca, Tompkins, Cortland and Oswego counties. I am a client focused Attorney. When you choose me to represent you you can rest assured that your matter will always take top priority and never get lost in the fray. My Office is dedicated to client satisfaction and customer service. In addition most services are...

Joseph Callahan graduated from Syracuse University with a joint law degree and M.S. in Accounting. He began work as a tax accountant with Deloitte, Haskins & Sells (now Deloitte & Touche, CPAs) in New York City in the late 1980s and left there to work as a tax attorney in Syracuse, NY. He was admitted to the connecticut Bar in 1986, the New York Bar in 1987 and became a licensed Certified Public Accountant in teh State of Maryland in 1988. He is also admitted to practice in federal court in the Northern District District of New York and...

Administrative law including environmental law. In the last few years I have taken on the reform of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, one poor day care providers case at a time.

Estate planning arranges for the transfer of an individual's estate at the time of death. An estate consists of all property owned at death before it is distributed by will, trust, or intestacy laws. An estate may contain both real property and personal property. Estate planning allows an individual to decide exactly who will benefit from his or her estate, and to what extent. It can also reduce the taxes imposed on the transfer of assets at death.

An experienced estate planning lawyer can help minimize the amount of the estate surrendered to taxes as well as ensure that the management and distribution of the estate is carried out according to your plans. Particularly when your plans are complex and/or you have substantial property or assets, it is important to have an attorney who can ensure that your plan functions the way you intend. Depending on the complexity of your individual situation, your estate planning team may include attorneys, financial planners, bankers and insurance professionals. Some states certify attorneys as estate planning specialists, which means they have met certain requirements for experience, education, and testing in that field.

Fiduciary:
A person or institution who manages money or property for another and who must exercise a standard care imposed by law, i.e., personal representative or executor of an estate, a trustee, etc.

Personal representative:
The person who administers an estate. If named in a will, that person's title is an executor. If there is no valid will, that person's title is an administrator.